September 2004. Peelings of swamp taro, Cyrtosperma merkusii, make a very good compost, and often produce mushrooms. Is it a Volvariella? The photo was taken at Silolo, north Malaita, Solomon Islands, where the PestNet project email station is located.

The mushroom was confimred as Volvariella volvacea (Plutaceae), the rice straw mushroom. This species also occurs wild in Darwin, and it is edible. It also occurs on Choiseul, where is called loda kurumeme. It is the mushroom that usually grows on rotten sago palm trunks, but can also grow on other media – rotten cocoa pods and banana fibre, old copra bags. At least eight species are eaten.

The other genus in the family, Pluteus does not have a universal veil, but, similar to Volvariella, does emerge from an egg-like sac. Generally, the literature warns against confusing with the deadly Amanitas (Aminataceae), which also has a sac and universal veil.